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SPAM me with your BEST Am. Revolution resources!


d.g.
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DS has finally found an obsession, and it turns out to be the American Revolution. I blame School House Rock. :glare:

 

For now, I've just handed him some related fiction to read, but I'm trying to put together a 6 week unit study. I can manage decently with what we already have (plus the internet), but I'd love suggestions for more resources, especially free and/or very inexpensive ones!

 

So, SPAM me. What's been your biggest hit when studying the American Revolution, and were there any misses?

 

TIA!!

 

ETA: He's an advanced reader with good comprehension, so anything up to about 6th/7th grade reading level is fine. If it involves crafts, that's great, but detailed coloring of any sort is a no-go. He loves to do, not color!

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Liberty's kids, Jean Fritz books, electronic field trips to Colonial Williamsburg (through HSBC) and the CW website activities for kids

 

Check out the Junior Ranger programs through the National Parks--some have web ranger activities and many Rev War sites are National parks

 

Also, see if Dover has any good paper models to assemble

Edited by KarenNC
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This is also my sons newest obsession. We are lucky to live near Minutemen National Park so we took a field trip. Loved it!! We are working through the junior ranger book(free on the website). Besides the fieldtrip(which will be repeated soon) he really has enjoyed the history channel's "The Revolution". We watch through Netflix.

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This is also my sons newest obsession. We are lucky to live near Minutemen National Park so we took a field trip. Loved it!! We are working through the junior ranger book(free on the website). Besides the fieldtrip(which will be repeated soon) he really has enjoyed the history channel's "The Revolution". We watch through Netflix.

 

We're in Kansas, so history-based field trips are a bit out of our reach. The Junior Ranger program looks interesting... what is the link to the free book? I can't seem to find it.

 

I added The Revolution to my instant queue, and I'm hoping to find other movies.

 

 

Thanks for the ideas!!!

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We studied the American Revolution last year for 3rd grade. History Pockets and Liberty's Kids were both big hits ;)!

 

We read Johnny Tremain & Mr Revere and I too. I also like the movie musical 1776, but it's something you might want to preview first.

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DEFINITELY Liberty's Kids videos. They're incredibly well done.

 

Search for Revolutionary War re-enactments or living history events in your area. We visited an encampment and a battle re-enactment - it was exciting and fascinating.

 

King George: What Was His Problem? by Steve Sheinkin. An awesome book.

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Ok, so I dug around on my shelves, Netflix, and my hard drive, and I'm starting to get everything together. Here's the list:

 

On Netflix:

 

The Revolution

America: The Story of Us, ep. 2

George Washington: American Revolutionary

Paul Revere: The Midnight Rider

 

Scholastic Resources:

 

Fun & Easy American History Crafts and Games

Easy Simulations: American Revolution (for ideas)

Hands-On History: American Revolution

Tunes That Teach American History

 

Books:

 

My Brother Sam is Dead (read aloud)

Annie Henry and the Redcoats

In Their Own Words: Benjamin Franklin

Ben and Me by Robert Lawson

Mr. Revere and I by Robert Lawson (need to buy!)

If You Grew Up With George Washington by Ruth Belov Gross

Magic Treehouse Research Guide: Revolution

Cornerstones of Freedom books: Declaration of Independence, The Liberty Bell, The Constitution

Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? by Jean Fritz

Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz

We the Kids by David Catrow

If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution by Elizabeth Levy

Don't Know Much About American History by Kenneth C. Davis

 

Dover Coloring Books (to read, since he won't color):

 

Story of the American Revolution

Heroes and Heroines of the American Revolution

Paper Soldiers of the American Revolution

 

Plus:

 

SoTW

Kingfisher History Encyclopedia

Usborne IL Encyclopedia of World History

Battle by R. G. Grant

 

 

I can't buy Liberty's Kids at this time, though it looks amazing. I'm still trying to decide on some of the recommendations... we could probably spend the next 6 months on this subject and still not get through even half of what I've found/had recommended!

 

Thanks for the ideas!

Edited by d.g.
forgot a few books!
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I need some AM Revolution resources!

 

But I'm not talking about history... I misread the title of your thread - at first glance I thought you meant help for getting a better start in the morning.:lol::lol::lol:

 

We have taken to sleeping in this summer and our wake-up routine needs a revolution!

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This is an excellent book:

Why America is Free: A History of the Founding of the American Republic, 1750-1800

It is not very long, but it is an in depth book which explains the Constitution very well. I am reading it to my kids this year as part of our civics course.

 

Another thing you can do is incorporate memory work. Memorize exceprts from the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. I bought mini reproductions of these three documents inexpensively, similar to this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Declaration-of-Independence-544/dp/B001V7O1RE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344129062&sr=8-2&keywords=declaration+of+independence

They are fun to pull out and look at.

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We've studied this time period twice. :D

 

HSITW Rev. War cd is AMAZING. We LOVED it. All the lessons line up beautifully with all 40 episodes of Liberty kids. There's a HUGE list of books & DVDs inside of the CD. We purchased just about all the Jean Fritz books & read them with it.

 

Another great idea is to check SL's core D for Rev. War books as well as WP's American Story 1 & Equiv. They have some beautiful books there. One of our favs from WP was Regina Selsby's War. It does have Christian Content, so if you're opposed to that just a heads up.

 

Phoebe The Spy & Deborah Sampson were fun reads for my boys despite having heroines.

 

We also made AMAZING wooden soldiers that my boys STILL use from that time period out of pegs/clothes pins.

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